As historians have explored the epidemic of 1918, the experiences of the. Katherine anne porter, from the first appearance of her stories, made her mark, impressed other writers, by the way she wrote. Pale horse, pale rider is one of the finest american novels of all time. Its as bad as anything can be, a soldier in that story. Katherine anne porter papers, special collections and university archives, university of maryland libraries. While she was in the sanitarium, katherine anne porter began to write, doing a gossip column and theatrical criticism for the fort worth critic. For a young newspaper woman in denver, katherine anne porter, life was like a romantic novel. In october 1918, in denver, colorado, the young american novelist katherine anne porter caught the. In this third installment on the influenza epidemic of 1918, paul andrews takes a closer look at author katherine anne porter, one of the epidemics many victims and a. Nursing is nine tenths, just the same, said the nurse in katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider, referring to the totality of a patients care. Also in 1915, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and spent the following two years in sanatoria, where she decided to become a writer. The seminal novel about the 1918 flu pandemic was written by a. People didnt want to believe that they could be healthy in the morning and dead by nightfall, they didnt want to believe that.
Katherine anne porter was a distinguished american journalist, essayist and a short story writer. Porter was born on may 15, 1890, in the small texan town of indian creek and died ninety years later on september 18, 1980, in a nursing home in silver spring. In 1937, he published they came like swallows, a novel about a midwestern family that falls ill when the flu reaches their town. Mar 24, 2020 why was the great influenza pandemic of 1918 such a big deal. At the time of the influenza epidemic of 1918, porter was living in denver and writing for the rocky. It was left to a few scattered authors less central to the canonkatherine anne porter. He was diagnosed with the flu, a disease doctors knew little about. An account of the influenza epidemic of 1918 in denver. The main charactera female reporter in denverfalls in love with a soldier headed to war. The 1918 flu figures in novels such as thomas wolfes look homeward, angel, wallace stegners big rock candy mountain and william maxwells they came like swallows. Mar 10, 2020 katherine anne porter left her stamp on literature. The title story comes from her own almostfatal bout with flu. Close to death from the novel influenza virus that would kill 50100 million people, porter felt transported to a paradisal landscape, one free of the pain and fear that had overtaken her body.
I learned that pandemics were serious business thanks to my college reading of katherine anne porter s perfect 1936 novella, pale horse, pale rider. In distinct ways, the two works chronicle how the story of the warboth in history and within the literary. Davis as katherine anne porter s short novel pale horse, pale rider opens, miranda fitfully endures a vivid nightmare. Pale rider and the denver influenza epidemic of 1918. Finally, in 1939 katherine anne porters short novel pale horse, pale rider was published. A young woman lies in a fever during the influenza epidemic, her childhood memories mingling with fears for her fiance on his way to war.
Katherine anne porter 18901980 was one of the twentieth centurys most celebrated authors. Katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider, traumatic memory, and the influenza pandemic of 1918 by david a. In 1915, she asked that her name be changed to katherine anne porter as part of her divorce decree. The emigration movement of only about 100,000 jews has already sufficed to awaken the interest of many countries to the jewish danger. Katherine anne porter was born on may 15, 1890, in indian creek, texas, the fourth of five children of harrison boone porter and mary alice jones. The lost worlds of the 1918 influenza epidemic by nancy bristow, 2017 pale horse, pale rider by katherine anne porter, 1939 the 1919 influenza blues by essie jenkins. In distinct ways, the two works chronicle how the story of the war.
Willa cathers one of ours 1922 and katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider 1939 expose the complicated layers of overlap between the war and the pandemic and the difficulties of representing the pandemics particular costs amid the wars more public presence. It was discovered during that time, however, that she had bronchitis, not tb. After a successful year as a journalist she went to new york and spent the 1920s, in her words. The seminal novel about the 1918 flu pandemic was written by a texan katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider tells the tale of a pandemic she barely survived. The two best american novels of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Actually, by far the most important need of 1918 influenza patients was for nursing care. An estimated 50 million worldwide were killed in the flu pandemic of 1918 and at least one fifth of the population was infected. Katherine was first married in june 1906 to john henry koontz of inez, texas. Recovering from the 1918 spanish influenza, which stole at least seventeen million lives, miranda finds herself in an enervated, feverfueled state. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In 1918 the year of the spanish flu that actually started in kansasnewspaper reporter miranda meets adam, a soldier on leave. She was a descendant of jonathan boone, brother of the famous explorer daniel boone 17341820, and her father, a farmer, was a second cousin of the writer o. Katherine anne porter, herself stricken in 1918, authored what the scholar caroline hovanec says is perhaps the bestknown fictional account of the epidemic, 1939s. The seminal novel about the 1918 flu pandemic was written by.
In pale horse, pale rider by sometimescatholic writer katherine anne porter, narrator miranda comes to know precisely this sort of salvationand she finds it wanting. In october of 1918, a delirious katherine anne porter experienced what she termed the beatific vision. When she was two, her mother died during childbirth, so she went to live with her grandmother, catherine ann, along with her three siblings and her father. Influenza, heritage, and magical realism in katherine anne porters. Among the documentaries, magazine articles, and books about the epidemic is laura spinnys history, pale rider. Born and raised in texas, she published poetry and stories before joining the staffs of the fort worth critic and the rocky mountain news in denver, colorado, where she almost died in the influenza pandemic of 1918. Pale horse, pale rider book by katherine anne porter. In 1918, porter went to work for the rocky mountain news in denver, where she nearly died in the great influenza epidemic of that year.
The spanish flu of 1918 and how it changed the world public affairs. Oct 24, 2017 pulitzer prizewinning author katherine anne porter mostly wrote short stories, and her first and only novel was ship of fools, published in 1962. The story closely follows an account of porter s own illness and recovery during the pandemic, when she was working as a. Katherine anne porter, pale horse, pale rider 1938. Davis bio as katherine anne porters short novel pale horse, pale rider opens, miranda fitfully endures a vivid nightmare. May 25, 2018 in colorado, katherine anne porters black hair fell out as a result of flu. The present selection of 5 unexpurgated letters, written to seventyfour different persons, begins with a 1916 letter written from a tuberculosis sanatorium in texas and ends with a 1979 letter dictated to an. Katherine anne porter biography life, childhood, children. Was it really that bad, or was it all just a bunch of bs. Katherine anne porter left her stamp on literature.
Katherine anne porter was born in texas in 1890 as callie russell porter. It is also supported by a grant from the katherine anne porter literary trust. In this third installment on the influenza epidemic of 1918, paul andrews takes a closer look at author katherine anne porter, one of the. Jan 02, 2019 while she was in the sanitarium, katherine anne porter began to write, doing a gossip column and theatrical criticism for the fort worth critic. The writing is not plain and yet it is not especially decorative either. In pale horse, pale rider, katherine anne porter weaves the horrors of the great war, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the neardeath experience of a young woman in love with a doomed american soldier into a memorable novella. Except for a stint in chicago in 1914, porter lived in texas until 1918, when she left to take a job on the rocky mountain news in denver. Characterization of the 1918 influenza virus polymerase genes. Katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider, traumatic memory, and the influenza pandemic of 1918. Why was the great influenza pandemic of 1918 such a big deal. Trauma, influenza, and revelation in katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider. Katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider, traumatic memory, and the influenza pandemic of 1918 by david a.
May, 2018 pale horse, pale rider is a short story first published in 1939 by pulitzer prize winning author katherine anne porter. After a difficult childhood and an abusive first marriage, she began to work in chicago as an actress. Outka analyzes overt treatments of the pandemic by authors like katherine anne porter and thomas wolfe and its subtle presence in works by virginia woolf, t. Katherine anne porter, pale horse, pale rider 1939. Finally, in 1939 katherine anne porter s short novel pale horse, pale rider was published. In 1939, the writer katherine anne porter published what would become her best. In the spring of 1918, as the nation mobilized for war, private albert gitchell reported to an army hospital in kansas. Davis bio as katherine anne porter s short novel pale horse, pale rider opens, miranda fitfully endures a vivid nightmare. The seminal novel about the 1918 flu pandemic was written. Watch influenza 1918 american experience official site. Pale horse, pale rider isbn 0151707553 is a collection of three short novels by american author katherine anne porter published in 1939 while these three short novels old mortality, noon wine and the eponymous pale horse, pale rider, have been described as novellas, porter referred to them as short novels. Theres a scene early in pale horse, pale rider, the 1939 novel by katherine anne porter, in which two young lovers take a walk from the rooming house where theyve met out into a beautiful. Katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider, introduced by elizabeth hardwick.
Katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider and the 1918 influenza epidemic do not use. Through its title, the book connects to kathryn anne porter s 1939 short novelas she insisted it be referred to as suchpale horse, pale rider. Katherine anne porter 18901980 produced a relatively small body of fiction, but she wrote thousands and thousands of letters. Katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider, traumatic memory, and the influenza pandemic of 1918. When porter was eleven, catherine ann died, prompting the family to. Did we fail to memorialize spanish flu because women were the. Katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider tells the tale of a pandemic she barely survived. Academic journal article the southern literary journal the forgotten apocalypse. Katherine anne porter wrote the book on pandemics westword. Katherine anne porter and the 1918 influenza epidemic. She would marry three more times but remain childless. A century on, why are we forgetting the deaths of 100. Katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider tells the tale of a pandemic she barely survived. Willa cathers one of ours 1922 and katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider 1939 expose the complicated layers of overlap between the war and the pandemic and the difficulties of representing the pandemics particular costs amid the wars more public presence.
Davis as katherine anne porters short novel pale horse, pale rider opens, miranda fitfully endures a vivid nightmare. Long before nonfiction books about dying and coming back to life became popular, katherine anne porter wrote this brilliant story about life and death during the influenza epidemic near the end of world war i. Ten famous people who survived the 1918 flu page 3. Katherine anne porter survived the influenza pandemic of 1918. Aug 23, 2017 in pale horse, pale rider, katherine anne porter weaves the horrors of the great war, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the neardeath experience of a young woman in love with a doomed american soldier into a memorable novella.
Katherine anne porter may 15, 1890 september 18, 1980 was an american journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. Like a circular letter from the ministry of foreign affairs to all german authorities abroad shortly after the november pogroms of 1918 stated. The author was at the time a reporter in denver, colorado, and was stricken with the flu. When it grew back her hair was white and porter went on to write a memoir, pale horse, pale rider about the pandemic. Did we fail to memorialize spanish flu because women were. A century on, why are we forgetting the deaths of 100 million. Its the central theme of katherine anne porter s beautiful, fuguelike novella pale horse, pale rider. Watch influenza 1918 american experience official site pbs.
World war i claimed the lives of an estimated 16 million people but an even deadlier killer snuck in on the coattails of the war. Nursing is nine tenths, just the same, said the nurse in katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider, referring to the totality of a patients care. A circular letter from the ministry of foreign affairs to all german authorities abroad shortly after the november pogroms of 1918 stated. A library of america ebook classic kindle edition by porter, katherine anne, unrue, darlene harbour. Her 1962 novel ship of fools was the bestselling novel in america that year, but her short stories received much more critical acclaim. This collection of three novellas by porter, a pulitzer prize winner, shows how she uses specific detail to recreate a particular time and place. The main charactera female reporter in denverfalls in love with a. At the time of the influenza epidemic of 1918, porter was living in denver and writing for the rocky mountain news. Porter, katherine anne the handbook of texas online. Katherine anne porter s pale horse, pale rider, traumatic memory, and the influenza pandemic of 1918 david a. While these three short novels old mortality, noon wine and the eponymous pale horse, pale rider, have been described as novellas, porter referred to. Mar 21, 2020 katherine anne porter, from the first appearance of her stories, made her mark, impressed other writers, by the way she wrote.
Despite the devastating scope of the spanish influenza pandemic of 1918, curiously few references to the flu exist in literature. Katherine anne porter and the 1918 influenza epidemic hektoen. It was left to a few scattered authors less central to the canon katherine anne porter. Pale horse, pale rider isbn 0151707553 is a collection of three short novels by american author katherine anne porter published in 1939. This online resource is a product of the katherine anne porter correspondence project, which is a collaboration between the university of maryland libraries special collections and university archives and digital services and technologies units. She had to endure a period of ill health during this period, but began writing for various newspapers. In october 1918, in denver, colorado, the young american novelist katherine anne porter caught the same disease.
Katherine anne porters pale horse, pale rider, traumatic memory, and the influenza pandemic of 1918 david a. Pulitzer prizewinning author katherine anne porter mostly wrote short stories, and her first and only novel was ship of fools, published in 1962. A letter carrier in new york city wears a mask for protection against influenza on oct. She uncovers links to the disease in popular culture, from early. Katherine anne porter, born may 15, 1890, was one of those afflicted by the flu.